Mobster gets 12 years for ordering hit during grandma’s funeral

By
Selim Algar

A
Colombo crime family capo was sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday for
ordering a hit on a rival gangster — from his own grandmother’s wake.

Theodore
“Skinny Teddy” Persico Jr. — nephew of notorious Colombo boss Carmine “The
Snake” Persico — whispered his lethal order to Mafia soldiers at the Brooklyn
wake in 1993. He had been let out of jail on furlough to pay his respects.

“You’ve
got to kill Joey,” Persico (pictured) whispered to three Colombo cohorts at the
wake, held at Scarpaci Funeral Home in Dyker Heights in August 1993, one of the
mobsters, Anthony “Big Anthony” Russo, testified in 2012 against another of the
soldiers, B.F. Guerra.

A
handcuffed Persico — who was referring to renegade Colombo gangster Joseph
“Joey” Scopo — ordered the hit as he sat in a room with both his grandmother’s
body and three state jail guards who’d transported him from an upstate prison,
Russo had said.

The
brazen command led to Scopo’s assassination in front of his Queens home months
later.

A
seething Persico wanted Scopo dead because he had sided with a rival of his
powerful uncle during a bloody struggle for family supremacy that raged
throughout much of the 1990s.

In
a surprise verdict, Guerra was acquitted of the Scopo killing, but was jailed
last year for a slew of other mob-related activity.

Persico
pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiracy and extortion raps in exchange for the
12-year sentence on the Scopo hit.

Noting
the relatively light sentence for a murder, Brooklyn federal Judge Sandra
Townes told Persico he was fortunate to have such a skillful lawyer in Elizabeth
Macedonio who negotiated the deal with prosecutors.

Persico
nodded in agreement.

Before
his prearranged sentence was handed down, Persico, 50, told Townes he has
abandoned his life of crime.

“I
want to assure you and promise you that I won’t be here again,” Persico
muttered.

The
vow came despite speculation he could be next in line to replace his jailed
uncle as Colombo boss.